You're Missing
by Spirited Heart
Summary: After the Pevensie's coronation as the kings and queens of Narnia, Tumnus is having a hard time adapting to castle life. Often he finds himself dreaming of his native Narnian wood. Will he stay with his beloved Lucy, or return to the life he once had?


"Mr

**A/N: Yeah. This is my first written Narnia fanfic, although I have millions of them still in my head. For all you Stalker fans out there, I'm taking a break (see my profile). So please, please, please review this so I can know what you think!! If no one reviews I'll leave it and won't continue it. so please! **

**Pairing: Lucy/Tumnus**

**Rating: T (because….well…idk. it's just because) **

**Longer Summary (it's really crappy, but I swear the story is better): **

At 16 years of age, Lucy Pevensie is assuming more and more responsibility with her job as Queen of Narnia. Swept up amongst the balls, meetings, and royal engagements that come along with it, she and her beloved friend (or, perhaps, more than a friend) Mr. Tumnus have less and less time to spend with each other. They are subjected to merely a quick "hello" while passing each other in the winding corredores of Cair Paravel, and Lucy no longer has time for their daily tea. All this courtly business has unnerved poor lonely Mr. Tumnus, and he longs more and more for the Narnian woodland he was born in.

**Another A/N: this takes place during a large party for Lucy's sixteenth birthday. Just saying.**

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"Mr. Tumnus?" Lucy whispered, "Are you there?"

Lucy's sharp hearing detected a soft sob coming from within one of the long corridor's doorways, which was the door to Mr. Tumnus's room at Cair Paravel. The Narnian Queen, thinking that her beloved friend was in trouble, pushed the ideas of privacy out of her head and managed to shove the door to Mr. Tumnus's castle suite open a small bit and rushed inside.

"Mr. Tumnus? Tumnus, where are you?" she cried, her eyes sweeping over the tousled bed sheets that had been pulled up in a hopeless attempt to make the room look a bit neater.

"Out here." A faint voice replied from out on the terrace overlooking the hills that gently swept down to the water below. Relieved that she had found him, the queen calmed herself and stepped out.

Just as she had suspected, there was Tumnus, leaning against the stone railing of the balcony, staring out to sea deep in thought.

"There you are…" Lucy sighed. She walked up to the railing and let her arms rest themselves on its cool, stony texture. "I couldn't find you at the ball…I was worried."

"You shouldn't have come looking for me," Tumnus said slowly, almost too calmly. "Your siblings…the guests…they will all be looking for you. You are the reason the party is taking place. Shouldn't you be there?" Lucy shrugged.

"I'd rather be here with you. It's so quiet…much better than that noisy party." It was true; the air around them was still except for the occasional sea breeze, and they were so far away from the thrown room that the sounds of faint laughter could no longer be heard.

However, Tumnus's thoughts seemed to be no longer on the ongoing party. His chocolate brown eyes were distant, almost searching; scanning the far off horizon with a blank stare on his face. The youngest Pevensie knew something was wrong. Hadn't she just heard a sob coming from this balcony just a few moments ago…?

"Why, dear Tumnus…are you…are you crying?" she asked in disbelieve. Never in all of her recollection had she seen her friend cry to the point of sobbing.

Tumnus seemed to straighten up a bit, trying to make himself look more ordinary.

"I-I am _not_ crying." He stated determinedly, his voice cracking with the emotion he so desperately tried to hide. It was quite clear that he had been crying. The light brown tufts of fur around his chin and the red wool scarf around his neck were damp and matted with tears that had fallen, his little faun ears were drooping, and as Lucy gazed into the moonlit brown eyes she knew so well, she saw so many emotions swimming within the unshed tears. _Hurt. Anger. Grief. Agony._

"What is wrong? What has happened? Did…Did I do something to upset you?" She put her delicate hand, now cold from the stony railing, on Tumnus's slightly shaking shoulder. It was warm and soft, and Lucy could feel the cold in her hand quickly seeping away. Tumnus turned and looked at her for the first time that evening and offered her a weak smile.

"Of course not, my dear Lucy. You have done nothing wrong….it's just that…" he turned back around and gazed back out across the Eastern Sea once more. He paused, choosing his words carefully, and then spoke again. "It's just that…I don't feel…at home here. I don't fit in with the court members who were born for this life. This life of dances and meetings and silks and satins; it is not for me. I am a homely faun who was born and raised to life in the Narnian wood, not this," he gestured widely back at the castle walls. "After all," he turned back to Lucy with twinkling eyes, "I am not a tame faun."

Lucy smiled back at him, and turned and pulled herself into his arms. Sheltered from the surprisingly chilly July night, she felt warm and safe in Mr. Tumnus's secure hug. She felt him rest his head on top of hers, and Lucy breathed in his sent of tea, the woods, and a few spices too.

"Tumnus, you belong here." She murmured into his shoulder, "I don't know what I'd do without you here…I think I might go mad." Lucy felt her friend chuckle slightly, but not wholeheartedly. She began to feel sleepy, and her eyelids began to droop. _Perhaps the party is finally getting to me…_she thought groggily.

"Tumnus…" she asked drowsily, fighting the temptation to fall asleep right then and there in his soft and strong arms.

"Yes, my dear Lucy?"

"Will you stay with me….here at Cair Paravel…" her words slurred together, but her friend still managed to understand her.

"Yes. I will always be here."

Finally content that everything was alright again, Lucy gave in to the temptation and closed her drooping eyelids, and a few seconds later she was snoring lightly.

Mr. Tumnus gently picked her up and brought her inside, setting her gently down on his bed. Kissing her forehead lightly, he stepped back outside on the balcony, his brow low with worry.

Had Lucy not been so exhausted, she might have noticed Mr. Tumnus's tone. Had she glanced up, she would have seen him looking heart-brokenly across her head and looking out to the hills covered in cool, green trees that stretched on and on for miles.

When she woke up, there was a note pressed in Lucy hand addressed to her in Tumnus's shaking script. He had gone.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

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**Please please please review!!**

**it would be the world to me!**


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